Student Profile: Lejb Hauser

I think that Lejb Hauser is Icek Labj Hauser, because that is the only person it can be. If you go to the names under H, and then go to page 4 of all the H surnames, you will see that there is only one Hauser, and only three male Hauzers. When you search the database, there is only one Hauser with with anything similar to the name Lejb, and that is Icek Lajb Hauser, whose birth year (1927) corresponds perfectly with the school Lejb H. went to (1926-1931). Even when you change the last name settings to "Fuzzy", there are no other Lejbs or Lajbs. I even searched through all 46 Hauzers and all 86 Hausers for corresponding ages.

Lajb and Lejb are very similar. It also makes sense that a boy of 14 years would abreviate his name to Lejb, which is a variation of the Yiddish name (Leyb) for lion, or "Judah", (compare "Sonya which is Russian, to "Sonja", which is polish).  The name Icek was probably an overly common name (the name of a great Jewish patriarch)  and simply means "laugh" or "he laughed" in Hebrew.

Great research. I agree that this Hauser is the only Hauser with a name close to Lajb, and the student's birth date matches up appropriately to school 14b. According to the student profile you have the right addresses as well. Definitely possible.

Stephanie, thank you for a fantastic process note! I appreciate your thorough work to research not only the student but also the cultural environment of the names. You are absolutely right that Lajb and Lejb are two halves of the same coin, and we often find the Polish, German, and Yiddish spelling of one name listed in different places, all referring to the same person. Best of all, I think your comment will be helpful to other researchers who are curious about analogous names.

I agree that Icek Lajb Hauser is the most likely candidate to have signed this name in the album. As you suggest, in 1941 he would have been 14 years old, the right age to attend school #14b. Thank you for correcting the addresses, and best of luck in the next stages.